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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22790941">Everything</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/heydoeydoey/pseuds/heydoeydoey'>heydoeydoey</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Everything 'verse [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Glee</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>M/M, Pre-Slash</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2011-03-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2011-03-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-04-28 17:40:37</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,149</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22790941</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/heydoeydoey/pseuds/heydoeydoey</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Puck wants whatever Kurt is willing to give.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Puck/Kurt</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Everything 'verse [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1638469</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>31</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Everything</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p><a id="cutid1" name="cutid1"></a>Puck figures he probably should have seen it coming.  Karma, or whatever, for all the dumbass stuff he did before he realised he preferred this new version of himself.  He spent months wooing Lauren only to have her laugh in his face, rip out his heart and stomp all over it.  And it isn’t like he’s a stranger to rejection either.  First there was his dad, and then there was Quinn and the daughter whose picture he still carries around on his cell phone, his dad again and then the constant, yo-yoing drama with Finn.<br/>
<br/>
The drive to Westerville gives Puck plenty of time to think about this stuff.  The radio in his truck is broken and considering he’s still paying off the damage to the 7-Eleven and his mom’s Volvo, fixing his stereo system is sort of at the bottom of his priority list.  The thing is, he misses Kurt.  Like a lot.  Like he didn’t realise how much he needed him around until the Gargler with the stupid name and hair like an oil spill lured him away to Gay Hogwarts.  He misses Kurt’s truly spectacular ass in the painted-on jeans he insisted on wearing, and the shimmy Kurt called dancing and the snide, sarcastic comments Kurt used to make from the back row of the choir room.  And then this morning he’d heard Aretha and Rachel talking about how Kurt sounded sort of homesick recently and that Blake or Dwayne or whatever has been his usual smug, douchey self and so instead of going for his afternoon nap during math class, he’d slipped out into the parking lot, got into his truck and onto the highway, headed southeast.<br/>
<br/>
Sam’s already texted him twice, asking him where the fuck he is and reminding him that Nationals is in three weeks, which means Rachel is freaking going insane, and Schue is probably going to give Puck’s solo to Finn if he misses even one rehearsal.  Puck isn’t actually too worried about that.  He isn’t about to let fucking Finn sing a song by one of his Jewish icons.  Finn isn’t cool enough to pull off Dylan anyway, which was why Schue gave Puck the song in the first place.<br/>
<br/>
Puck gets a third text as he’s pulling into the Dalton parking lot.  He doesn’t bother checking his phone, because he’s already pretty sure it’s Rachel, threatening to castrate him for skipping practice.  He doesn’t worry about locking his truck either, because nobody’s going to take his rusting Toyota when there are Beemers and Range Rovers on offer.</p><p>He doesn’t have a clue what Dalton’s visitor policy is like, but if he learned anything in juvie, it’s fake it til you make it.  And not to get attacked by gangbangers while bench-pressing shirtless in the weight room, because even his fight club wasn’t hardcore enough to prepare him for getting his nipple ring ripped out.  That shit fucking <i>hurt</i>.</p><p>He pulls open the front door and walks into the foyer, which pretty much screams money as loudly as the cars in the student lot, with its marble floors and the staircase that looks like the one in <i>Titanic</i>.  He sticks out like a sore thumb with the ‘hawk and his frayed jeans and suddenly this seems like a terrible idea, setting himself up for yet another rejection.  He’s ready to bolt out to his truck and floor it back to Lima when the bell rings and boys in blazers start pouring out of doorways, all of them staring at him curiously and not even bothering to hide it.</p><p>When he spots Kurt, he almost doesn’t recognise him.  He’s slouching along next to the hobbit, his shoulders hunched forward like he doesn’t want anybody to notice him.  And that just isn’t right.  Hadn’t he come here in the first place so he wouldn’t have to walk around like that?</p><p>“Kurt.” Puck doesn’t realise how loud his voice is until it echoes across the crowded hallway, and Kurt’s head snaps up.  Almost immediately, Kurt’s hand flies up to brush his fringe out of his eyes.  The gesture is so familiar but it doesn’t belong here.  It belongs back at McKinley, with the rest of Kurt.</p><p>“Noah.” Kurt says his name like he’s been practising it, and it makes Puck’s heart start hammering against his ribcage.  As Kurt starts walking towards him, his shoulders square up and he looks closer to his old self, until Frodo’s hand lands on his arm.  The Gargler says something Puck can’t hear and he almost expects Kurt to shrug and walk off in the opposite direction, but instead he pulls his arm free and keeps walking towards Puck.</p><p>Puck thinks Kurt is taller now, because he doesn’t remember the grey-green-blue eyes that are right at his eye-level.  Everyone is still staring at them, and Kurt reaches out, closing his hand around Puck’s wrist, tugging him towards the door.<br/>
It’s hard to breathe with Kurt’s warm fingers around his wrist.  He’s held hands with people, but he doesn’t think anybody’s ever done this before and it’s sort of…intimate.</p><p>The May afternoon is warm, and he follows Kurt away from the school, towards the sports fields.  He can hear the aluminium ping of bats being swung into practise pitches.  He didn’t go out for baseball this year, because it’s starting to sink in that music is probably going to be his best (only) shot out of Ohio.</p><p>They climb the bleachers and watch the baseball team silently for a while.  They aren’t friends, exactly, but the silence between them is surprisingly comfortable.  Puck doesn’t remember the last time he was around somebody and felt like he could just <i>be</i>.  He’s not sure if it ever has happened.</p><p>But Kurt can’t keep quiet forever, especially when he’s so obviously curious about Puck’s random appearance.  He keeps sneaking sideways glances when he thinks Puck isn’t looking, and Puck pretends not to notice.</p><p>“Not to sound rude, but why are you here?” Kurt asks, his grey-green-blue eyes boring into Puck’s.  This is the ballsy Kurt Hummel Puck remembers.</p><p>Puck shrugs, “I felt like seeing you.”</p><p>Kurt’s eyebrows climb towards his hairline, and Puck wonders what answer he was expecting. “Sort of a long drive, just for that.”<br/>
<br/>
“I don’t think so.  Besides, with Nationals coming up, I needed a break from Rachel’s crazy.  She’s already tried to steal my solo about twenty times.”</p><p>“You’ve got a solo?” Kurt asks, his lips quirking up in a bright smile.</p><p>“Yeah.  Dunno if somebody slapped some sense into Schue or what, but so does Mercedes.  Well, it’s a duet with Finn, but it’s better than what Rachel’s got.”</p><p>“She told me that.  What are you singing?”</p><p>“Make You Feel My Love.  The Dylan version.”</p><p>Kurt’s expression softens, and for a moment Puck wonders if he’s going to cry or something. “My mom used to sing that song.  It was one of her favourites.”</p><p>They slip into silence again, since Puck understands there’s nothing he can say to make it feel less sucky that Kurt’s mom has been gone for so much of his life.<br/>
<br/>
“Why are you really here?” Kurt’s expression is determined now, like Puck is a mismatched outfit he needs to put right.<br/>
<br/>
“I already told you.”<br/>
<br/>
Kurt huffs out an annoyed sigh, and Puck doesn’t know how Kurt can tell it isn’t the whole truth.  He’d rather stick his tongue down Kurt’s throat and deal with this the way Puckasaurus knows best, but he knows it doesn’t work that way.  Not with Kurt, anyway.  Lauren might have humiliated him, but she also taught him a few things. So he knows that Kurt won’t believe right away that the guy who threw him into dumpsters on a daily basis is now the same guy that wants to punch Blaine in the face and maybe take a flamethrower to Dalton for doing whatever it is they’re doing to his boy that makes him slouch and look so miserable.<br/>
<br/>
“I miss you.”<br/>
<br/>
“How can you miss me?” Kurt frowns. “We never spent any time together.”<br/>
<br/>
“I guess I took it for granted that you’d be around.  And then you were gone and it fucking sucks.” Puck leans against the bleacher railing. “And that’s not true.  Glee club is a lot of shared time.”<br/>
<br/>
“I don’t think it counts.”<br/>
<br/>
“Sure it does.”<br/>
<br/>
Kurt purses his lips for a moment, and Puck knows if they were standing he’d have his hands on his hips. “Prove it.”<br/>
Puck isn’t one to back down from a challenge.  There are plenty of things he could say, but he figures it might be time to share the secret he’s been keeping for over a year now.  “I know you blew the Defying Gravity note on purpose.”<br/>
<br/>
Kurt’s mouth falls open in surprise. “How?”<br/>
<br/>
“I heard you practising the day before.”<br/>
<br/>
“Why didn’t you say anything?”<br/>
<br/>
“You wanted it so much, I figured you must have had a really good reason.  It took me a while, probably until you started wearing flannel and singing Mellencamp, but I guessed it had something to do with your dad.”</p><p>Kurt stares at him, and then he nods. “Yeah.  I was protecting him.  Just like what you were trying to do for your family when you took the ATM.” Now it’s Puck’s turn to stare.  It's not like he <i>told</i> anyone about Danny Puckerman showing up again out of the blue and sending them all into a tailspin “Carole told me about your dad.” Kurt explains. “I drove halfway there a few times to see you before losing my nerve.”</p><p>“I probably would have been a dick to you.” Puck admits, wishing it weren’t the truth.</p><p>“What changed?”<br/>
<br/>
Puck frowns, thinking, and Kurt doesn’t try to rush him.  He just leans back on his elbows and waits like he’s got nowhere else he’d rather be.<br/>
<br/>
“I don’t know if there’s any one thing.” Puck says finally, because he knows better than to think he woke up one morning with an epiphany. “It just sort of happened.  Everything went down with Karfosky and I couldn’t help and I watched them make you sing backup for that hobbit-wannabe way too many times and then Lauren decided to hurt me because she knew she could and I got here today and you were slouching and I always hear Mercedes and Rachel talking about how you deserve so much better than the shit Blaine does to you.  And I know they’d probably say the same thing about me, but…” Puck shrugs, running out of words.</p><p>Kurt twists his fingers together nervously in his lap, his bottom lip caught between his teeth, and Puck has never wanted to kiss anyone so much in his entire life.<br/>
<br/>
“I don’t know what you want from me.” Kurt says finally, his voice quiet and his eyes scared.<br/>
<br/>
Everything.  Anything.  Whatever Kurt is willing to give him.<br/>
<br/>
Puck isn’t sure if he actually said it or if it was just echoing around his head, but he thinks from the way Kurt is looking at him—half-terrified, half-amazed—that it was probably out loud.<br/>
<br/>
“Can I think about it?” Kurt asks, cautious, like he’s ready for Puck to say no.<br/>
<br/>
Puck nods. “Yeah.  You know where to find me.”<br/>
<br/>
“Usually in my kitchen, raiding my fridge at midnight.” Kurt arches an eyebrow and Puck grins.<br/>
<br/>
“I should head back.” Puck says reluctantly. “Try and make it to at least some of glee club.”<br/>
<br/>
Kurt nods and gets to his feet.  He walks Puck out to his car and they just stand next to the rusting door for a while, looking at each other, while Puck fiddles with his keys absently and Kurt searches Puck’s face like he’s trying to memorise it.<br/>
<br/>
“Maybe I’ll see you this weekend.” Puck says, and it’s the lamest thing that’s ever come out of his mouth, but Kurt smiles and nods anyway. Puck is about to turn, climb into his truck and drive away when Kurt hooks a finger in his belt loop, keeping him there.<br/>
<br/>
“Noah.” Kurt breathes, before leaning forward and capturing Puck’s lips in a soft kiss.  It’s gentle and tentative and barely there before Kurt is pulling away, a blush rising up his cheeks.<br/>
<br/>
“For the record, Karofsky is graduating in June.”<br/>
<br/>
Kurt frowns a little bit. “I’ll keep that in mind.”<br/>
<br/>
“Give Blaine a kick in the balls and tell him it’s from me, okay?”<br/>
<br/>
Kurt smirks and looks so close to his old self that Puck wants to stuff him in his truck and drive him away from this place that turned him into a blazer-wearing zombie.  He settles for squeezing Kurt’s hand before getting in his truck alone.  Kurt gives him a little wave and a smile as he backs out of the parking space.</p><p>It isn’t everything, but it’s a start.<br/>
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